Apple’s $1B ‘Temporary Fix’ for Siri Relies on Google’s Gemini

Apple has committed to a $1 billion-a-year “temporary fix” for Siri, and it involves licensing its rival’s technology. Google’s 1.2 trillion parameter Gemini model will be the “behind-the-scenes” engine for the new “Linwood” Siri, launching in the spring.

This “interim solution” is part of Apple’s “Glenwood” project to make Siri competitive. Google’s “ultrapowerful” AI was chosen after a “bake-off” where it beat OpenAI and Anthropic, and it will handle all complex “summariser” and “planner” functions.

The hybrid system will use Apple’s 150-billion parameter models for simple tasks. For Apple, this is a reluctant admission of its AI lag, overseen by executives Craig Federighi and Mike Rockwell.

This is a huge win for Google’s “AI supplier” ambitions. While Apple hopes to replace Gemini with its own 1T+ model, this “temporary” fix could last for years given the challenge of catching Google.

Privacy is non-negotiable. The Gemini model will be hosted on Apple’s “walled-off” Private Cloud Compute servers, guaranteeing Google gets its money but no access to Apple user data.